Bio

Leslie Nuss, The Album V, Part 1 - songwriter, singer, instigator

What kind of songs do you write if you feel like you've been biding your time, waiting for a chance to come back, like a character in an Alexandre Dumas novel? What kind of songs do you write after you've been uprooted, trying to make a new life in a foreign land? What kind of songs do you write from the perspective of the second gender in music? What kind of music do you make if you realize that if this music truly is for you, then it better be what you want? What kind of music do you make if you hip-hop across the country searching for the right kind of vibe? What kind of artwork do you ask for that is beautiful and strong and symbolic as well as celebratory and victorious?

leslie nuss

2017: In the middle of recording 2 eps. But here's some info:

Leslie Nuss is more than a singer-songwriter with a beguiling voice and insanely catchy songs. This poet- sorceress has a gift for channeling her life experiences into a sound that evokes universal truths and shared trials.

Leslie Nuss has seen it, done it, lived it. All the beauty, disappointment, sadness and glory of life can be found in her songs. She’s a Midwestern sage who experienced growth and tribulation in NYC, and has been a powerful sonic presence throughout the course of four remarkable albums (Heliotrope, Action Hero Superstar, Round 3, and Leslie Nuss). Each of her records features numerous hook-filled pop and rock tracks of memorable honesty and grace. These are songs that incite helpless whistling and humming long after the track has ended.

But Leslie Nuss hasn’t released any music in nearly 10 years. Where has she gone?

Leslie has returned to her roots, put down new roots – and has recorded some of the most profoundly moving music of her career. New tracks like Glory Days and Deaths Door speak to the adversity and uncertainties that we all face, rendered with deepened emotional intensity and a spiritual richness that would make Van Morrison proud. In these, and songs like Shook Me and Anybody Out There, Leslie articulates emotional truths for us all – we have all been scarred by life’s journey. Yet, Leslie offers a way forward, mindful of the past, aspiring to transcendence. If that’s not enough for you, just listen to the music – these songs are rendered in accessible yet achingly beautiful tones of abject worldly splendor.

With her new music, Leslie Nuss proves herself to be a restless seeker, whose captivating melodies and incantatory vocals blend with raw and heartfelt passion, all of which speak volumes of courage and strength. Leslie Nuss is blazing a path across life’s diverse adversities, to a warm and inviting place that feels like home. Take her home; she’ll be speaking your language.

Rich Kaminsky, Nov 2016

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2015: After an extended hiatus involving marriage, births and several deaths, Leslie Nuss has been slowly building herself back up. First with regular gig at a local pub with cellist Elizabeth Allen, then since late 2014 with a new band, SPECX, made up of local musicians Peter Kiafas on electric guitar, Chris Gall on drums and Lin Wyatt on bass. "The freedom to rehearse and fine tune new songs over time has been liberating," Nuss says. She's been newly inspired by the death of a good friend and what it means for those of us left behind. "I can't say my writing is wholly different than my previous recordings, but as we get older, our perspective changes, and I'm looking for hope and release from the past." One song that Nuss recently wrote with SPECX involves a recurring dream she's had for the 10+ years after she left New York for Chicago in 2002. It's called, "Subway" and is an incantation of sorts about, "These dreams of traipsing through New York, sifting through life only to end up on a subway platform going back and forth, back and forth."

SPECX played its first live gig in late 2014 in a barn Nuss and her husband converted into a private bar/performance space. "It was one of the best gigs I've ever played," she said. "The energy was better (for me) than before, there was a comfort level that I'd never experienced and a joy with the understanding that we're still doing this."